


Clean Laundry

by Earley



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fake Dating, First Kiss, M/M, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn, one brain cell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Earley/pseuds/Earley
Summary: “How did you even bribe Goro fucking Akechi to be your fake boyfriend?!” Ann gasped, eyes wide. Akira shook his head, “Shh! I haven’t told him yet. Look, I’m still marinating this plan…”“You are literally on a train ride to your hometown and you still don’t have a plan? Akechi is so going to murder you.”Akira rolled his eyes, “don’t be dramatic, Ann, he is not a murderer.”
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 90
Kudos: 534





	1. Chapter 1

**CHAT – What Team!? WILD RATS**

**[Akira has sent an audio]**

**Ann:** Omg what, you have to go back to your home town? Why??

 **Ryuji:** You are leaving Tokyo?!

 **Makoto:** You two, listen to the audio again, he is only going home this weekend to spend the summer holidays with his family.

 **Ann:** But….. we are his true family :(

 **Akira:** Aww <3

 **Ann:** <3

 **Yusuke:** Oh, this means I won’t be able to go to Leblanc to keep him company.

 **Futaba:** You only come to Leblanc to steal our air conditioning, Inari.

 **Yusuke:** What!? That’s preposterous! I come for the delicious food as well.

 **Ryuji:** I guess we will have to meet without our leader for a couple of days :/

 **Ann:** Oh, my parents are coming over this weekend too, so I will be unavailable.

 **Makoto:** Same, I’m going to a hot springs with my sister in Kyoto. 

**[Akira has sent an audio]**

**Makoto:** YOU TOLD YOUR FAMILY WHAT!?

 **Ryuji:** DUDEEEE YOU ARE SO DEAD

 **Futaba:** F

 **Yusuke:** F? F what? 

**Ann:** Ooookay, I’m calling you. Now.

Two seconds after receiving Ann’s text, Akira’s phone buzzed. Luckily, he was on his way to Leblanc, having gotten out of the Underground not even a minute ago. He had spent the afternoon working at Iwai's shop. Now the sky was dark, and the small bars lined around the street were open and full of customers that consisted mostly of tired salarymen, people who lived in the neighbourhood, and the drunk man that could always be seen tumbling around the back street alley -someone should really do something about his alcohol intake-. All in all, Yongen-Jaya looked the same as always.

Akira sighed and picked up the call not without a big amount of shame and defeat.

“Hello-”

“Akira!” cut Ann, her voice stern like a mother scolding her dumb child, “why would you lie to your family like that?”

Akira grimaced and shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to explain himself. He stared at a street light near the bathhouse, there was a moth flying nearby, getting too close to the light and falling dead on the ground. _‘Mood’_ he thought. “I messed up.” He told Ann. 

“But I don’t understand. Why would you tell your mom that you would bring a girlfriend home?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“Complicated? Wait! Do you have a girlfriend and haven’t told us!?” 

“No, no, I’m not dating anyone,” assured Akira with a laugh, “It’s just that when my mom called to tell me about the holidays, she…um. She just-” 

“She what?”

“Akira’s mom was really rude, Lady Ann!” jumped Morgana, perking from Akira’s school bag and getting close to the phone, hitting Akira’s head in the process. “When she called this afternoon, she was nice at first, but then she started talking about Akira being troublesome and a shame to the family.”

“She said that...?” whispered Ann, sounding genuinely surprised.

Akira played with his bangs, “Well, yeah, after my probation things have been a bit tense with my parents. She was going on and on about what a disappointment I was, and how I probably was a loner at school with no friends, that no one would want to be near me… I got angry, and well-”

“So you told her that you had a girlfriend and that you would bring her home, to prove a point.”

“Yeah, basically.”

“And you did it out of spite.”

“It’s the rebel that lives within my soul-” Akira tried to joke, but he still sounded tense. 

“That’s so unfair… What are you going to do?”

“Who knows, I have to leave in two days, so it’s not like I have time to get a girlfriend.” He admitted. “I actually asked Hifumi if she would be my fake girlfriend, you know, like in the movies, but she already had important plans this weekend.”

Ann whined, “I would love to help make your family mad but I will be away those days as well, and Makoto too.” she apologized.

“It’s alright, it was my fault for lying about something like that in the first place. I guess I will have to think of something else...”

They talked a bit more, Ann wished him good luck and they ended the phone call with the promise of Akira keeping her updated about whatever happened. Not wanting to go inside Leblanc just yet, Akira continued walking outside in circles, trying to think of a way to fix the mess he had put himself in, but nothing came to mind. 

He was starting to consider to call his mom and tell her the whole truth (he could already imagine how the conversation would go ‘ _not only is my son a criminal, but a liar as well! You are lucky your grandma wants to see you, because if it was for me and your dad, you might as well stay in Tokyo forever!_ ’) 

Akira furrowed his brows, maybe his mom wouldn’t get _that_ mad and it was just his imagination being overly mean, but lately it was really hard to tell how she would react. 

He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he yelped when Morgana suddenly clawed his pawns on his shoulder “Akira, be careful!” the cat cried.

“Wha-” he started, but didn’t have time to react, “OUCH!” He yelped, he had run into something-

Or someone. 

“K-Kurusu? Are you alright?” asked a tumbling Goro Akechi, staring at him with surprise. Akira heard Leblanc’s door closing, so Akechi must have probably left the coffee shop just now.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized, fixing his glasses which had almost fallen due to the impact. “Were you going home, now? It’s really late.” he said, trying to change the topic so Akechi wouldn’t ask him why he was running in circles around Leblanc like a lunatic.

“Ah- yeah.” Akechi seemed thrown off by the sudden question. “Leblanc is a really calming place after all, it’s as if time passes differently there.” He rambled. “But I must ask again, are you okay? You seem uncharacteristically agitated.” 

_Damn_. “It’s nothing, I was just excited to get home and started running without thinking.” 

“Oh, I wish I could say the same.” blurted out Akechi, and then, noticing his mistake, quickly added, “I mean, it’s not to say I don’t enjoy my own home, but these days have been a little-”

“A little…?” 

Akira waited, not knowing where Goro was going with that, when all of a sudden the drunk man that was previously drinking at one of the bars came up to them, reeking of alcohol and tumbling like he could barely stand on two feet. 

“Can we help you, sir?” Asked Akechi, with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, aren’t you the annoying detective kid from TV?” The man said, his face completely red from the alcohol.

Akechi and Akira exchanged glances. 

The man continued, “Psse I always change the channel when I see you.” He made the motion of holding a TV control and changing the channel in front of Akechi.

Akira was about to say something, but Akechi was faster, “I think you left your TV control at home, why don’t you go look for it?” he calmly suggested.

The man looked at Goro, then at his empty hand, then at Goro again, “Eh… Did I? Bah! What a brat!” he shouted, too drunk to even rationalize anything. “I’m gonna go fetch it and then you will see!”

“I’m sure I will,” Akechi said as the man left. Then he looked at Akira and gave him an apologetic smile. “Since the Phantom Thieves defeated Medjet people have been mad at me for denouncing them publicly. Of course, it’s nothing that I can’t handle, but that’s why I enjoy Leblanc’s non-judgmental atmosphere. Otherwise being around Tokyo has been a bit harsh.” he joked, half deprecatingly. 

Akira nodded quietly, feeling bad for the detective.

After all, he had also been bullied by most of Shujin, so he knew how cruel words could get to you. Akira was sure he wouldn’t have been able to take the hate so well if it wasn’t for his friends having his back. But Akechi didn’t seem to have any friends, did he? Akira wondered if Akechi was even able to go grocery shopping without being insulted by random people, or if he was forced to hear his neighbours talk behind his back every time he left for work.

He thought his family problems were bad, but he guessed that lying to his mom about bringing a girlfriend home wasn’t on the same level of being hated by a whole city. Akechi should really consider leaving Tokyo for a few days, at least until the rage thrown at him calmed down… 

Suddenly, a light bulb went off inside Akira’s head, and everything made sense.

“Akechi,” he started, a mischievous glint obscuring his glasses, “would you like to take a break from Tokyo?”

Akechi looked at him without understanding.

***

“I didn’t know what to bring so I hope this set of traditional Tokyo delicacies is enough,” said Akechi brightly, lifting up what seemed to be a comically huge bag with five different boxes inside.

“That’s- That’s a lot.” observed Akira with wide eyes. “but I’m sure they will love it.” he assured nonetheless, internally grinning at how over the top Akechi could be. 

They were on the train headed to Inaba, a small rural town a couple of hours away from Tokyo. 

Inaba was incredibly quiet and boring –at least for Akira’s standards– every neighbour knew each other and the only place young people like him could hang out was at Junes, a decent sized shopping mall. 

“I’m really curious about what kind of people are your parents,” Akechi wondered, he was sitting in front of Akira and wearing unexpectedly trendy summer clothes; a red and white polo with some sort of expensive logo on one side of the chest, beige pants, and white sunglasses that rested on top of his head. 

His city boy appearance was really going to stand out in that old and dusty town, thought Akira.

“My parents are very normal, really.” he said, waving his hand lazily. 

“With you as their son? Allow me to doubt that.” 

“No, really,” he insisted. “My dad works at a car insurance company and my mom is a teacher. When they aren’t at work, my dad watches baseball on TV and my mom gossips with our neighbours.” 

Akechi laughed, “Alright, that sounds incredibly stereotypical. But sometimes normal is enough,” he added, looking away and staring at the view from the window instead. 

Akira grumbled. “If you say so…” 

Honest to God, Akira still couldn’t believe that Akechi had accepted his offer. At first he hadn’t, of course, looking completely confused and saying something like ‘I wouldn’t want to intrude, it’s your family holidays after all. I should take my leave now, have a good day, Kurusu.’

It had been a complete rejection, but Akira was a desperate man, so he just kept insisting by chat which went something like:

***

_**Akira:** are you sure you don’t want to come? My mom’s cooking is really good. I can give you free curry and coffee for a week. _

_**Akechi:** Haha that’s not necessary. Nevertheless, yes, I’m sure, I wouldn’t want to be a bother. _

_**Akira:** You wouldn’t, that’s why I’m offering._

_**Akira:** Akechi? _

_**Akechi:** I just don’t understand, we aren’t even f _

_**Akechi:** Oh, excuse me, I hit the send button by mistake. _

_**Akechi:** the f was from family. I meant to say that we aren’t related so it would be out of place for me to be there. _

_**Akira:** Oh I thought the f was from friends and I almost got sad. _

_**Akechi:** haha _

_**Akira:** But seriously, think about it. My parents actually hate the Phantom Thieves so I’m sure they will love seeing you there, and you can also take a break from Tokyo for a few days. We can even go fishing. _

_**Akechi:** Your parents hate the Phantom Thieves? That’s unexpected. _

_**Akira:** They detest them. And we can even go fishing. _

_**Akechi:** You already said that, is that the only activity you can do in your hometown? _

_**Akira:** come with me and you will know ;) _

_**Akechi:** Heavens… Alright, let me think about it. I will let you know tomorrow, okay? _

***

Akira sighed. In the end, everything worked for the better, although he had a strong suspicion that Akechi only accepted the offer after hearing that his parents hated the Phantom Thieves. Actually, he was pretty sure that Akechi only accepted because he realized that going to Akira’s home would give him more room to spy on his life and discover whether or not he was a Phantom Thief. 

Akira didn’t exactly mind being used like that, Akechi wouldn’t discover anything in his home town and, anyway, wasn’t he also using Akechi in his own way?

And thinking about that… he should really update Ann. Akechi was still staring at the landscape, lost in his thoughts, so Akira quickly snapped a picture of him and sent it to her. The response was immediate.

 **Ann:** AKECHI!?!?! AKIRA, YOU TOLD YOUR MOM YOU WERE GOING TO BRING A GIRLFRIEND

 **Akira:** I know-

 **Ann:** How did you even bribe Goro fucking Akechi to be your fake boyfriend?! Wait, is he going to crossdress!?

 **Akira:** No! I haven’t told him anything about that yet. Look, I’m still marinating this plan

 **Ann:** You are literally on a train ride to your home and you still don’t have a plan? Akechi is so going to murder you.

 **Akira:** don’t be dramatic Ann, he is not a murderer

 **Ann:** Duh, obviously! But still, you must tell him the truth!

 **Akira:** I know! I’m just thinking on how to go about it without him freaking out.

 **Ann:** Well you are on a direct train so at least he can’t escape

 **Akira:** (I was counting on that actually-)

 **Ann:** Akira, I swear… Ah, my parents got home! Talk to you later! Keep me updated!

Akira sent Ann a couple of thumbs up emojis, asked if Mona was doing fine (he left the cat with Ann, to Morgana’s complete joy) and left his phone next to the window with a sigh. He must have exuded a nervous energy because Akechi, who had been checking something on his own phone, looked up at him with curious eyes.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, tilting his head in a way that would have been very attractive if it didn’t make his sunglasses fall from his head to his nose. “ah…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Akira replied half-heartedly, twirling the edge of his hair. Ann was right, he had to tell Akechi what was going on, but that meant he would have to choose his next words carefully. 

“Are you sure you are fine? You seem nervous.” Akechi insisted, putting his glasses back on top of his head.

He could do this. Come on, Akira, you have the guts for this. “Well, no.” He started, carefully, “not everything is alright.” he admitted.

The honesty made Akechi raise his eyebrows with both interest and suspicion. He placed his phone back into his pocket and stared at Akira intently. “Did something happen?” 

Akira shifted slightly from his seat. He placed his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it with embarrassment. It was now or never, he guessed.

“Yeah… Actually, I haven’t been completely honest with you about this trip.” he said, looking at Goro with an apologetic smile.

That surprised Akechi, whose eyes widened as he sat a little bit straighter and crossed his arms, “Hmm? How so?” he asked, more calmly than Akira had anticipated, but still with a tint of suspicion.

“It’s nothing serious, I assure you, but if you want to punch me afterwards you are free to do so.”

Akechi rolled his eyes, “Stop with the dramatics and just tell me what’s going on.”

“Okay, okay… Ugh. Remember when I told you I was on probation?” 

Akechi nodded, “Yeah, you said it wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t, but you should know that my parents are still very angry about that.” Akira explained. “Actually, they didn’t even want me to come and spend the summer holidays with them, but my grandma and my cousins are also coming over and they still like me, I guess, so they convinced my parents to let me stay for a few days.” 

Akechi nodded slowly, “I see, I had no idea that your probation had caused so much distress in your home.”

“It was a low blow, yeah.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Akechi said, and Akira wasn’t really sure if he was being honest or just polite, so he decided not to dwell on it and kept talking.

“Yeah, it sucks.” he agreed. “that’s why I… Um. I kinda got into an argument with my mom the other day, and told her that I would bring a girlfriend home. Just so she could see that I was having a good time in Tokyo.”

Akechi actually laughed at that, “I didn’t take you for such a petty individual, Kurusu.” he said with mirth, clearly interested and having fun with Akira’s miss fortune, “and then what happened?”

Akira looked at the floor and played with the hem of his shirt, “Nothing.” 

“Nothing? You are going home and clearly haven’t brought a girlfriend, so what did you tell your mom?”

“...Nothing.”

Akira slowly looked up and stared at Akechi in silence, Akechi stared back at him confusedly, then his smile gradually faded away as he put the puzzle pieces together. 

(Akira could tell the moment Akechi realized what was going on because the detective’s face suddenly went bright red.)

“Haha no way, you don’t mean that you-” Akechi tried, his smile faltering. “Did you- I mean, it can’t be. You surely must be joking, right?”

“Um.”

“...Kurusu?”

Akira took a deep breath, clapped his hands together and bowed his head in a clearly exaggerated fashion, “Please, be my fake boyfriend! I will give you free coffee and curry for a whole year. I will even be the Watson to your Sherlock!”

“Kurusu. You told them you would bring a _girlfriend._ ” gasped Akechi with a high pitched voice, still unable to comprehend the whole thing. “I imagined that there was a hidden reason as of why you invited me to your home, since it made little sense, but this is beyond ridiculous!”

“Look, Ann and Makoto already had summer plans, and you were having a bad time in Tokyo, so-”

“I wasn’t, I told you I could deal with the media-” retorted Akechi defensively.

“Alright, alright, but still.” insisted Akira, “You looked like you needed a break. And my parents love you. Like, I’ve barely talked with them on the phone and every single time they kept praising you and saying things like ‘Oh I wish you were more like that young and hardworking detective on TV and not some filthy criminal.’’”

“But you told them you would bring a girlfriend, as in, a girl.”

“Well, I will tell them that I was too embarrassed to confess that I was dating a boy over the phone.”

“But we aren’t dating!”

“We would just need to act for a couple of days!” begged Akira, “My mom is your fan so I bet she wouldn’t even mind that I had a boyfriend if it was such a good influence as you, and even if she disagreed, she wouldn’t dare say anything in front of you because she cares too much about appearances and social etiquette.”

Akechi didn’t look convinced at all. “And what about your dad?” he asked accusingly.

“He just does whatever my mom wants.” 

“But still, this is so stupid, just tell your mom the truth. I also have a reputation to uphold, you know?”

“My family will keep the secret If I tell them that we have been dating clandestinely because you are a celebrity.”

Akechi shook his head, “Look, why not just say that we are acquaintances and leave it at that? Tell you mom that your girlfriend couldn’t come and that you decided to bring me instead. Your parents will be happy that we are… friends, and we won’t have to act. Isn’t that plan better?”

Akira looked away petulantly. “That’s too normal…”

“Excuse me?”

Akira crossed his arms against his chest, “My parents have been so unsupportive about my probation… I try to be positive and think that they don’t mean what they say, but it still hurts to see how little they trust me.” he smiled in a way that didn’t reach his eyes. “I also thought that saying that you are my friend would make them happy... but I’m not sure if I want to make them happy anymore.”

“You would rather shock them and let them think you are gay? Why take the risk and make them dislike you even more?” 

“Isn’t it more fun like that?” joked Akira, trying to lift the mood, but he only received a serious glare from Akechi. Realizing that the detective could clearly see through him, Akira dropped pretenses. “No, you are right, I guess this is some sort of personal and petty revenge.”

He sank in his seat. It wasn’t in his nature to be like that. He had always been rebellious, never following what society expected of him and doing what he thought was right, but he had felt so betrayed by his parents. He had always been a good son, helped them out and caused no trouble, and yet when the accident happened his parents had had no trouble in getting rid of him. 

Sometimes he wished that his parents had a change of heart, that they could care less about what the neighbours thought, and more about what they really wanted. That’s probably why he had wanted to tell them that he was dating Akechi. To shock them, to see if that could somehow trigger something in them. But in the end Akechi was right, it was a ridiculous idea. 

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess,” apologized Akira, “I will understand if you prefer to go back to Tokyo.”

He expected Akechi to be angry and leave the second they got out of the train, but instead, Akechi stared at him with pensive eyes and a hand on his chin.

“You and I are more similar than I expected,” he said, “although I don’t agree with your methods, I have to admit that I understand where you are coming from.”

Akechi’s raw honesty threw Akira off for a second, but he nodded silently. “Oh, I see...”

“God…” frowned Akechi, massaging his temples and clearly stressed. “you are really troublesome, you know? Fine.”

“Fine? Wait,” Akira had to do a double take. “will you act as my fake boyfriend, then?”

Akechi rolled his eyes, “Why not, since you have already gotten so far, I might as well play the part and see how it develops.” 

“Wow... I didn’t expect you to agree at all.” mumbled Akira, incredulous but with a big smile, “Seriously, Akechi I’m so glad, I owe you. I promise to clean your laundry for the next year!”

Akechi laughed quietly, “A whole year might be too much, but alright. You might not believe it, but I can be a little petty as well, from time to time.”

***

It turned out that Akira was right in thinking that his family was incredibly mad at him. He didn’t expect a warm welcome from them, but when Goro and him arrived to Inaba, he realized that things were worse than he had imagined: his parents hadn’t even dared come and pick them up at the train station.

“Are you sure you told them we were arriving?” asked Goro, holding his luggage with one hand and fanning himself with the other. Inaba’s weather at that time of the year was incredibly hot. 

Akira stared at his phone. His ‘we will be at the station in 30 minutes’ text message had been left on read. He frowned.

“Yeah… Sorry, I guess we will have to walk a little.” 

Akechi stared at him for a few seconds and sighed, “Lovely.”

“Hey, come on, It’s only a twenty minute walk to my house,” Said Akira as he signaled a street and both of them started moving, “and anyways, I can show you the town along the way. A fancy Inaba tour by your local and hot guide Akira Kurusu.”

Akechi rolled his eyes and put his white sunglasses on, “Actually, we should use this time to prepare some kind of story about how we started dating so your parents don’t catch us on a lie.”

“I thought we already decided that on the train?”

“We can’t just say that we met at a TV station, you fell in love with me, then you asked me out when I happened to come to Leblanc. It’s not credible.” huffed Akechi.

Akira looked at him confused, “Eh? Why not? It sounds plausible to me.”

“It needs more details,” Akechi shook his head and put a hand on his chin, “As in, hypothetically speaking, when did our love declaration happen?”

“Uhh… in July.”

“And how many dates have we had since then?”

“Sixty-nine?”

“In only one month? are you aware we are in August?”

“Alright, seven…”

“When did you discover you were gay?”

“When you talked about Hegel in the TV station I realized that I was madly in love with you and your nerd self.”

“...You definitely need to change that answer, and for the record, I’m not a nerd, Hegel is basic culture.” mumbled Akechi, offended. 

“Whatever you say, Honey.”

“...” Akechi threw him a glare to which Akira just grinned. “As I was saying, What are our favourite spots to hang out?”

“Um maybe–”

“Do we take selfies?”

“Ah-”

“What are boss’ thoughts on our relationship? Is he even aware of it or you tell him that you are going out with a girl instead because you are afraid that he will kick you out if he discovers the truth?” continued Akechi matter-of-factly and incredibly fast. “Lies need a lot of worldbuilding for them not to be discovered.” 

Akira’s head was spinning with too much information. It was frightening how good Akechi was at that kind of deceiving thing. 

“You could be a professional liar, you know?” he praised.

Akechi gave him an inquisitive smile. “Oh, of course not, it’s just something that comes with the job of being a detective.” he dismissed airily. “And anyway, I’m a bit of a perfectionist so if we do this, I want to make it right and not leave any holes in our testimony.”

Akira nodded, “That’s good to hear.” then he smiled teasingly as a thought occurred to him. “Oh, does that mean that you are okay if we kiss?”

“W-What?” Akechi sputtered. “Kiss? Why would we kiss?” he asked, not doing a good job in hiding his shock.

“Isn’t that what couples do?” Akira couldn’t help but tease.

Akechi’s voice wavered, “Isn’t it impolite to show that kind of affection in front of your parents? Those things are usually kept private, we are not in Europe.” he insisted.

Akira waved a hand nonchalantly, “But we want them to get a little bit mad. We should also hold hands, sleep on the same bed, cuddle, hug...” he said as if it was obvious.

It was hard to tell if Akechi’s face was red because of the heat wave or the embarrassment, “Hug?! W-Wait a minute-”

“Oh, hey!” Akira cut him, “Look, to your right is the Inaba shrine, it has a story of 1900 years. Because of its size, it’s a popular spot for hatsumode and-”

“Now it’s not the time to be a tour guide, Kurusu!” Akechi despaired.

The detective was so flustered that Akira couldn’t maintain his deadpan face any second longer and he broke off, laughing openly as Akechi sulked in silence. Akira could swear he heard Goro mumble something that sounded like ‘Teenagers these days…’

For the next few minutes, they kept walking and talking about all the details of their ‘relationship’ as they made way to Akira’s house. Akira made sure to choose the road where the sun hit less since Goro seemed to take hot temperatures badly. 

Despite that, Goro was sweating profusely, “Are we there yet?” 

“Almost there, darling.” 

“Stop with the pet names…” Akechi retorted, then he took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure, “Are you even taking this whole thing seriously?”

“I am, I am, sorry” Akira laughed, feeling just a little bad for messing with him. But it was so much fun… “By the way, you should call me Akira.” 

“Hm… That’s true, we should be on a first name basis.” Akechi nodded. “Then feel free to call me Goro for now.”

“Sure, and again, thanks for helping me out with this, Goro, I’m really grateful.” He threw the detective an honest smile.

Akechi looked away, clearly not used to be called by his first name, and nodded. “Just make sure you do my laundry properly when all of this ends.”

Akira grinned. “Of course,“ then he stopped to wait for Akechi, who was a little behind looking completely worn out. After all, his luggage was twice the size of Akira’s and they had been climbing quite a lot of stairs for the last few minutes.

They would only be staying in the town for four days –from Friday to Monday– so Akira wondered why Akechi had brought so many things with him. Was his bag full of hair care and beauty products? It had to be...

Once Akechi caught up with him, Akira offered him a small smile. “Welcome to my house.” he said, and with a bit of flourish, he signaled the house they were in front of.

Akechi stared at him in confusion and then looked to where Akira was pointing at. He let out a small gasp.

“It’s- It’s huge.” he observed, clearly not expecting Akira to live in that sort of place.

Akira nodded, feeling a growing weight on his shoulders. It had been four months since he had seen his home for the last time. His house was a modern, two-floor building located in the middle of a hill, with a long flight of stairs on his right side and a great view that covered most of Inaba. All in all, it was a high-end house. 

Akira had expected to be homesick and happy to be back after such a long time, but he only found himself missing his small and dusty attic of Leblanc more than ever.

“It’s time for the truth, are you ready?” he asked Akechi, the thrill of the little stunt they were going to pull making him both equally nervous and excited.

Akechi took a deep breath. “I’m not the one who has something to lose. Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, it has to be done.” Akira thought he saw his mom’s silhouette in the window, she was probably cooking something in the kitchen, “My parents… they need to change. See it as a shock therapy session.” _or a change of heart_.

“You aren’t even a professional therapist to be using that kind of term–” Akechi started to complain, but quickly stopped as Akira grabbed his hand and conducted them to the entrance of the house. “What are you doing?!” he whispered.

“Just smile.” Akira whispered back, and rang the doorbell.


	2. Chapter 2

In the end, it was Akira’s mom who opened the door.

Everything happened so fast that Akira could barely recall what happened in detail, but it went something like this:

First, after opening the door, his mom stared at him with a disappointed expression. “I see you are finally here,” she had said, without much joy. 

Then, she had noticed Akechi, who gave her his most radiant TV smile. 

“G-G-Goro Akechi?!” She had screamed, making them both shrink. (Akira was sure she had ruptured their eardrums.)

And finally, after the initial shock, she had stared dumbfounded at their interlocked hands for a scary amount of time, looked at him in the eyes, and whispered. “ _Akira Kurusu, what the hell have you done now_?”

Akira didn’t have enough time to say anything, because immediately after, his two cousins, Ren and Yui, peeked through the door and started screaming as well.

“Akira! You are back!!” said Ren with a big smile.

“W-Wait-! i-isn’t that Goro Akechi, the handsome boy that appears on TV?!” stammered Yui.

“Guys, don’t scream,” called their father, Akira’s uncle. “Yui, what are you talking about- Oh, wait, It’s really him, the Detective Prince!” 

“Akira, I didn’t know you were friends with Goro Akechi!” squealed his auntie, who also came to see what was going on.

In just a few seconds, almost all his family –except his granny and dad– were gathered around the entrance, staring at them with wide, curious eyes. Even Akira’s dog, Lupin, was watching the whole scene from the living room, wiggling his tail excitedly. 

Akira gulped, he would need a lot of guts for this. He threw a side glance to Goro to see how he was doing and studied his face. Goro’s jaw seemed just a bit tense, but besides that he looked pretty calm, his pleasant smile still there, unwavering. 

“Hello everyone, I’m Goro Akechi, although it seems you all already know that,” Goro spoke with an easy chuckle, “I’m very happy to finally meet Akira’s family, he has spoken highly of you all,” he lied with a charismatic smile.

“You go, Akira!” cheerfully said Akira’s aunt, hitting him on the shoulder with too much force, “You leave to Tokyo for a few months and already become friends with a celebrity!”

“Y-You should have told us you were going to bring him, idiot…” mumbled Yui who, judging by the blush on her face, Akira could tell that she probably had a crush on the detective.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Akira apologized with a smooth smile. “I wanted it to be a surprise. After all…” he looked at his mom, “...Goro is my boyfriend, so we want to keep our relationship as secretive as possible.”

“Haha we see…” his family said, nodding. “WAIT, YOUR WHAT!?” 

If his mom’s scream hadn’t torn their eardrums before, now his whole family’s screams definitely had. 

“YOU ARE GAY!?” screamed Ren at the same time Yui shouted, “AKECHI IS NOT STRAIGHT?!”

“H-Hey, calm down you two, Akira is almost an adult, he can do whatever he wants,” said Akira’s uncle, cleaning the dust of his glasses nervously.

“I knew this kid had a gay vibe…” Akira’s aunt mused proudly, staring at Goro with a knowing grin.

Goro’s smile faltered. “Haha… Excuse me, I have a what-?”

Akira laughed, later he was going to tease Goro about that, but before he could say anything else, his mom, who had remained scarily quiet, spoke up.

“Everyone, please listen to me for a minute.” she said, in an authoritative tone that made everyone shut up and pay attention to her. When she was angry her eyes always became sharper, a feature that Akira had gotten from her. 

If Akira had to describe his mom’s current aura in a word, he would use ‘intimidating’. Her hair was straight and long, pulled up in a low ponytail, and she always wore subtle red eyeshadow and lipstick. Her clothes were plain and formal, reminiscing of what a harsh math teacher would wear –which she actually is. Ha. Figures-. 

Basically, when Akira’s mom was mad, she looked like a demon. 

Akira internally gulped.

“First of all…” she started, “I want to welcome Goro Akechi in our humble home and our family!” she said, with a sudden wide smile that contrasted with the severe expression she had when she first welcomed Akira not even a couple of minutes ago. “It means a lot having someone as talented as you in the Kurusu household, Akechi-san!”

Akechi, taken aback, looked at Akira for a fraction of a second, definitely thinking the same as him, and then smiled at her, “Oh, I should be the one saying that, thank you.”

“Akira told me that he would bring a girlfriend home, I can only imagine that he was scared of our reaction and that’s why he didn’t say anything about you until now, but you don’t need to worry, I’m very glad to have you here. We all are very open!” 

_‘Sure, Jan’_ thought Akira, bitter, completely aware that his mom had her pleasing housewife mode on.

Despite that, Akechi nodded cheerfully. “I’m very glad to hear that, Mrs. Kurusu, we were a little worried.” he laughed awkwardly.

Akira’s mom shook her head, “You have no reason to worry! We appreciate all the work you do trying to catch those Phantom Thieves, and I’m very glad that my son is in your care.” she said as she put a strand of straight dark hair behind her ear. “And please, call me Hanabara.” 

Goro smiled, “Of course, Hanabara-san, and Mr. Kurusu, then…”

“Oh! He went to the grocery store with Akira’s grandma, they will come back before dinner.”

“If he took the car he could have come pick us up at the train station,” commented Akira with an edge to his voice.

“Did you have to walk here under the sun?” said his mom, feigning surprise. “I’m very sorry, you should have told us that you were arriving at this hour. ” 

“I sent you a message,” Akira said, defying.

“Oh, did you?”

“Erm…” Akira’s uncle coughed, reading the tense atmosphere. “Why don’t we all go inside and let the boys settle in? I’m sure they must be tired. After that, we can properly introduce ourselves.”

“That’s a lovely idea,” agreed Goro, “let’s go, Kuru- Akira, I can’t wait to see your room.” 

Akechi gave a light squeeze to Akira’s hand, who was still covering Akechi’s, and both of them went upstairs with a light, completely natural and not fake, pace.

***

Once Akira closed his bedroom door, Akechi quickly let go off his hand. Akira let out a breath he didn’t know was holding, and went straight to lie down on his bed, like the dramatic teen he was. Akechi stared at him from the middle of the room with a raised eyebrow.

“Everything fine?” he asked.

Akira gave him a thumbs up.

“Your family is quite... Lively.” Akechi carefully commented. “Want to talk about what just happened down there?” he asked, trying to sound casual about it but sort of failing, since Akira could tell how curious Akechi was.

So he gave him a thumbs down.

Goro crossed his arms, “You do realize I have to know more about them if we want to make this work, right?” he noted, “They seem to have bought the lie, but we don’t know how your grandma and dad will react.”

Akira groaned. “Don’t remind me of it.” He stared at Akechi from his bed and sighed, “Thank you, though, I didn’t expect them to be so intense right from the start.”

Akechi nodded, “It seems your mom will be a tough one. Your uncle and aunt seem pretty accepting, though.” 

“Yeah… Auntie works as a dance teacher so she is very energetic and open, and my uncle is a bit of a nerd so he is okay with pretty much everything.” He explained, “Their kids are another story, though.”

Akechi hummed, thoughtful, “How so?”

“Ugh tired. Will tell you later.”

Akira heard Goro let out a disappointed huff. He thought the detective was going to insist and insist until Akira told him every little thing about his family, but apparently something else seemed to catch Akechi’s attention.

“Is that a Featherman poster?” he suddenly asked, staring at the wall behind Akira.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’ve had it since I was seven. The edges are pretty yellow.”

“I see…” said Akechi, curious. Then, noticing his surroundings, the detective proceeded to stare (more like inspect) the rest of Akira’s room. 

Glad that Akechi would be entertained for some time, Akira let him explore in peace. The train trip and the ‘warm’ welcoming had left him quite exhausted, after all. He knew that he would have to talk more about his family to Akechi eventually, but that would require a complex and overly long powerpoint presentation that could rival Game of Thrones’ family dynamics, and he wasn’t really feeling up to that.

Instead, he stared at the ceiling and let Akechi curiously wander around the place. 

Akira didn’t think his room was very special, it pretty much looked the same it had before he left back in April. It was fairly big, and looked nothing like the one he had in Leblanc: the walls were a clear grey color, covered by a handful of posters of bands and movies that Akira liked, such as the prequel of the Cake Knight Rises, and Inception by Christmas Nolan.

His single bed was located next to the only window, which had a great view of Inaba, and since his house was facing the west, dim orange rays of sunshine were already filtering through his white curtains, telling him that the sun was slowly setting. 

Besides that, it seemed that his family had started to use his room as the storage 2.0, since he didn’t remember leaving the fishing rod, the barbecue kit and the awfully ugly Christmas tree all cluttered next to his desk. 

_They really had given up on him, huh…?_

No. He should stop. Thinking about his family was only going to give him a headache. He should actually try and take a nap, but it was impossible since Goro was wandering around his room like an alien who had just arrived on Earth for the first time. He was inspecting every single thing. 

“Has no one ever told you not to touch other people’s belongings?” 

“What is this?” Goro asked, currently holding a golden trophy.

“I used to do gymnastics when I was little and won a couple of trophies, now can you leave it where you found it?”

“Really? With your posture that’s hard to tell,” commented Akechi lightly as he left the trophy on the shelf. That little shit. 

Goro kept walking around the room and observing every little thing; he opened the drawers, stared at the plane toy he had hanging on the ceiling, and inspected the insides of the wardrobe. If Akira knew better, he would have thought that Goro had never been to a friend’s house.

“You won’t find all the weed that I’m hiding.” He joked, staring at him from the bed. 

Akechi rolled his eyes, “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, I’m just curious. You are very interesting after all.”

“And you are very nosy, have you never learned about room etiquette?”

Akechi looked away with a coy smile, “I must have missed that class.” 

“An honor student skipping class? Maybe dating a delinquent is having a bad influence on you.” teased Akira, getting closer to where Akechi was standing (he was holding the Christmas tree star with a very confused face.)

“Why do you have a Christmas tree in your room… in Summer?”

 _‘I will answer you if you tell me why you seem to be conducting a search in my room.’_ Akira wanted to say, but he already knew the answer. 

He had been right, hadn’t he? Akechi had accepted to come to his home solely to investigate him. The detective probably thought that he would find something that incriminated him or proved that he was a Phantom Thief. For a second, Akira felt a bit hurt, but he did his best to put those thoughts aside.

After a few more minutes of Goro wandering around, the brunette furrowed his brows slightly and turned to look at Akira, who was watching him from the desk chair with a cheeky grin.

“So? What’s your verdict, detective? Is my room acceptable?”

Akechi put a defeated hand on his chin, hiding his disappointment, “I guess it’s very... you.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?”

“A good thing, of course.” Akechi said with a charming smile. “By the way, may I use your bathroom? I think a shower would do me well before we have dinner with your family.”

“Oh, sure, it’s the room on the left at the end of the corridor. Feel free to use anything you need.”

Akechi nodded and grabbed his things, excusing himself. Akira couldn’t help but notice how Goro also brought his phone with him to the bathroom. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he thought it was strange, Morgana would have probably said something like ‘what if he works for someone and is reporting to them? Akira, you must be careful!’ 

Yeah, Mona would probably say that, but Akira didn’t want to worry about it. He didn’t have time to play cat-and-mouse with Goro. In that moment, he was not a Phantom Thief, he was just a country boy trying to survive a dangerous fate called family dinner.

***

“We are very happy to have you here, Goro-kun,” said Akira’s auntie while grabbing a takoyaki. “Now that we are together we can finally introduce ourselves. My name is Ume Amamiya, and he is my husband, Nobu.” 

“Hello,” Nobu tried to say, with his mouth full of tempura and his glasses completely fogged up. He was a man with few words. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m very glad to be here,” Goro said brightly as he grabbed a takoyaki as well. “Ah, it’s delicious.”

All of them were seated in a big table in the middle of the spacious living room. Akira, Goro, Ren, and Yui were seated on one side, while Akira’s mom, dad, uncle and aunt were seated in front of them. At the head of the table sat Akira’s grandmother, a silent presence. 

So far, Ume was doing her best to keep the dinner from not being too uncomfortable. She had abundant curly hair, dyed orange and tied up in a high ponytail. It looked like a puffy cloud. Her skin was tanned and it was apparent how her body was really fit under her comfortable, sporty outfit. She was the clear image of a vibrant and energetic dance teacher. 

“By the way, thank you for the Tokyo delicacies, Goro! I can call you Goro, right?” She asked.

“Ah… Well, actually-”

“Goro-senpai, I’m so glad you like the takoyakis, I made them myself!” boasted Yui, getting suspiciously close to Goro. “By the way, I am Yui, I’m 13 years old but people tell me I look more mature for my age.” she flirted.

“Who says that?” mumbled Yui’s brother, Ren. “AUCH!” He yelled as Yui pinched him under the table. “What the heck?!”

“What? I’m not doing anything,” said Yui, playing with one of her braids and making eye contact with Akechi.

“Ah… haha.” Goro awkwardly laughed. 

Between the two siblings, Ren was the oldest. He was 15 years old and had dark, curly hair. When they were little, people used to say that Ren and Akira looked like twins, but as they grew older, their features developed differently. Ren had a rounder face, his hair was shorter, and he wore red framed glasses. His clothes were also particular, as he was always seen sporting some graphic t-shirt with a popular and overdone quote on it. Right now his t-shirt had a cryptid text that said ‘Women want me, Fish fear me.’

On the other hand, Ren’s sister, Yui, seemed to enjoy following the latest trends. Her clothes were cute and a bit too mature for her age. Her haircut consisted on straight bangs and two long braids at each side of her face. Akira was pretty sure that she wasn’t wearing makeup when they arrived to the house, but now she definitely had makeup on. He could imagine why.

“You are taller than I expected, Goro-senpai,” she told Akechi, batting her eyelashes. 

“Have some water for your thirst.” said Akira. Everyone ignored him. 

“Thank you, Yui, that’s good to hear.” Akechi stared at the siblings with mild interest, “and I guess you must be Ren, right? You look a lot like Akira.” he observed. 

Ren buffed. “I get that a lot. People always think I’m his little brother. The difference is that I actually need glasses, while his are fake.” he said triumphantly.

“Why do you say that as if it was a good thing, four eyes.” Yui rolled her eyes at the same time Akechi stared at Akira and whispered, “ _I knew they were fake._ ” 

Akira laughed and he started bantering with Goro, Ren, and Yui. He was glad that at least they weren’t in complete silence, but the awkward atmosphere was still there. His father and grandma had barely said anything besides a short and curt greeting. 

“Dear, can you serve more rice to Akechi, I’m sure he must still be hungry.” Hanabara said at some point, passing a bowl of rice to her husband. 

“Ah- That’s very generous of you.” said Akechi, approaching his plate. “Thank you.”

Tadano Kurusu –Akira’s dad– barely looked at Goro when he served him. “No problem.” and that was it, silence again. Akira wondered if his mom had told him not to make a scene. 

Akechi blinked at Tadano’s cold attitude, “Ah, thanks…” he repeated, clearly a bit nervous despite trying to seem polite and pleasant. “I’m very glad to be here, your house is wonderful.” 

“It’s not a bad house,” Tadano agreed, still distant. “What do you think about Inaba?”

Akechi drank water, probably to gain more time to think of an appropriate answer. “It’s really… unique. I’m used to the big city, but I can see the appeal of living in such a natural, free space. The stars must look splendid without all the air contamination.” 

Tadano stared at him for a few seconds with a serious expression, until he finally nodded. “Yeah, the stars look amazing, specially in Summer. Do you know anything about astronomy?” 

Akechi smiled, “Only the theory, such as the name of the stars and constellations. I have never tried to find them on the sky, though.”

Tadano’s brows furrowed. “What’s the point of knowing the theory if you can’t put it to practice?” he asked, clearly outraged. “We have to fix that. Akira, do we still have the telescope?”

Akira grinned with a wide smile, “I’m pretty sure it’s in the garage 1.0” 

“Garage 1.0? What are you talking about? Anyway, make sure you find it tomorrow so we can show Akechi what he has been missing out.” said Tadano with a determined hum. It was funny to see him being annoyed, yet accepting of Akechi at the same time. 

Goro shifted a little in his seat, probably surprised at how things turned out. “You are right, I guess I have been ignoring the little pleasures of life due to my job. Thank you.”

“It’s never too late to try new things,” said Akira, at the same time he high-fived Goro under the table. Akechi seemed taken aback at first by the friendly gesture, but then he gave him a proud smile. 

They were doing a good job, weren’t they? 

“It must be strange for you, right?” said Akira’s grandmother, talking for the first time during the whole dinner.

Everyone looked at her. She was eating at a slow pace, not staring at anyone in particular, although it was clear who she had said that to. Akechi smiled, patient. “Excuse me?”

“Being in a house with so many people, it must feel unfamiliar, I imagine.” Akira’s grandma continued, “After all, they did say on TV that you were an orphan who lived alone, right?”

Everything went quiet, the only sound being the chewing of food. Akira, worried, looked at Goro and immediately noticed how his smile had stiffened up.

“Mom!” Akira’s mother said, shocked. “why would you say something like that to our guest?” 

Akira was sure that his mom’s indignance had nothing to do with Goro’s wellbeing, and more about her worrying on what Goro would say about them on TV if the Kurusu family treated him badly. 

“It’s- It’s fine,” Akechi tried to say, still a bit frozen.

“No, it’s not. Grandma, what was that about?” interrupted Akira.

“Leave it, Kurusu,” Akechi insisted, forgetting about using Akira’s first name. “I said it’s fine.” he regained his smile, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and looked at Akira’s grandma. 

“You are mistaken, Mrs. Kurusu, I’ve been in a lot of foster homes, so I’m not a stranger when it comes to spending time in an unfamiliar environment, but... I must say, this is the first time I visit my... boyfriend’s home, and meet his family, so excuse me if I seem a bit lost.” he made a self deprecating laugh, clearly meant to gain sympathy.

Akira’s grandma stared at him with sharp eyes and a raised eyebrow. “I see.”

***

“You looked at my grandma as if you were about to murder her.” commented Akira.

“I did no such thing.” retorted Goro, very offended.

The dinner was over and everyone had gone to sleep to their respective rooms. Akira had cleaned up the plates while Goro watched him quietly from the corner of the kitchen. _‘A guest isn’t supposed to help with the house chores! Just rest, Goro-chan’_ Akira’s mom had told him. After that, they both had gone to Akira’s room.

“My grandma is usually very nice, I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” Akira muttered with a frown.

“People can be nice and homophobic, Kurusu,” Akechi said, checking his nails. He seemed mostly fine, but Akira could tell his eyebrows had been a bit more furrowed than normal since the dinner. “And anyway, isn’t that what you wanted, to make them mad? I would say it’s been a success so far.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Akira shook his head, “the last thing I want is my family throwing jabs at you. When I said I wanted you to take a break from Tokyo, I meant it.” 

What was the point of helping Akechi escape from Tokyo’s hateful comments if his family was going to do the same? 

“It’s fine, really. I don’t need you to worry about me like that,” Goro insisted, uncomfortably. “and who knows, maybe your grandma didn’t mean that in a negative way, maybe she was just curious about my life.”

Akira and Goro stared at each other.

“Nah.”

“No, she totally meant it.”

They said that at the same time, and somehow the surrealism of the whole thing made Akira laugh and Akechi smirk. Akira realized that sharing secrets with Goro was a lot of fun. Despite their differences, they often were on the very same, inexplicable wavelength. It was hard to explain, but he really cherished those moments. It made him feel understood in a level he was not used to. 

“Tomorrow will be another day,” said Akechi, still smiling. “Maybe we didn’t pass today with flying colors, but I’m sure that by Monday it will be another story.”

“I put all my trust in you, Goro-senpai.” Akira joked, with a grin. “Did you like my impression of Yui?”

“Ahaha… don’t remind me, please.” 

“She really likes you. I can’t believe she tried to exchange your chopsticks while you weren’t looking to get an indirect kiss. ”

“Kids these days sure have guts, I have to admit.” Akechi grimaced, then he started putting on his pyjamas with a sigh. The clock on Akira’s desk told them that it was already 11pm. “Also, if she flirts with me it can mean two things: One, that she doesn’t respect you at all, or two, that she doesn’t believe we are actually dating.”

Akira also started putting on his black shirt and dark green pants that he used as pyjamas. “Honestly? I think she is in denial about her celebrity crush not being straight. She is so homophobic...”

“Shut up,” Akechi laughed, “but I could see that being a reason as well.” he admitted, hand on his chin.

“We will just have to be more lovey-dovey in front of her.” Akira batted his eyelashes. 

“Good luck with that.” 

“Hey, I thought we were a team!” Akira retorted, then he noticed how Akechi was looking for something inside his travel bag without much luck. “What are you looking for?”

“My hair tie… I thought I left it here?” Akechi mumbled, rummaging through all of his things. “I usually sleep wearing one in summer, so my hair doesn’t get stuck on my neck.” he frowned. “It’s not here.”

Akira tried to remember if he had something like that. Last week, Futaba had decided to give him a ridiculous hairstyle, _‘I just want to see what your forehead looks like when you have your bangs on a ponytail!’_ she had said, and then, after seeing the results she had whispered _‘I want to forget, but God won’t let me.’_ ouch. Still, he was pretty sure he had kept the red hair tie in his jeans’ pocket… ah, there it was! 

“Come here for a second,” he told Akechi, grabbing the hair tie and approaching the detective, who was still crunched down next to his travel bag. 

“Uh- What?” 

Akechi didn’t even have time to turn around. Akira crunched down behind him, and wrapped his hands carefully around Goro’s hair. 

“W-What do you think you are doing?!” Akechi yelped.

“Hey, don’t move or the strands will fall out.” Akira complained, combing through Goro’s hair with his fingers. 

“This is…” Goro started, but didn’t finish, probably not finding the right words. Despite his anger, he didn’t move, and stayed in place just like Akira asked, waiting for him to finish tying up his hair. 

Akira hadn’t really thought about his actions, his mind only focusing on helping Goro out. That is, until he saw Akechi’s ears slowly turn a very bright red, and then suddenly he realized the position he had put both of them in.

His face started to heat up. 

“You are too slow.” Akechi groaned, not sounding as impatient as he probably intended. Akira couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine what it looked like judging by how tense his shoulders were.

“Sorry, let me just-” he apologized. He just needed to finish this and then they would forget about it. God, what was he thinking, invading Goro’s space like that?

Suddenly, the door opened.

“Goro-senpai, could I take a selfie…” started Yui, with a practiced cute voice. That is, until she noticed the scene unfolding in front of her: Akira’s hands were still in Akechi’s hair, the way they were clenched on the floor looked as if they were spooning, and their faces were obviously red , “–with you…”

Akira gulped. “Um. There you go.” he said, finally finishing tying up Goro’s hair.

Goro stood up immediately, brushing a few strands off his face and going back to his charming persona, something not really possible since his face was bright red. “Sure, Yui, come here so we can–”

aaaand Yui closed the door.

“–take the picture…” finished Goro, staring at the empty space where Yui once was. “Well. I think we have traumatized your cousin.”

“Shuake 1 Homophobia 0.” said Akira, standing up and dusting off his pants. 

Akechi made a face, “Please don’t combine our names like that ever again.” 

***

After Yui’s unprompted interruption, both of them spent the next half hour playing various card games seated on the floor around Akira’s kotatsu (he had taken the winter blanket off so it was just an ordinary table) Akechi had complained about Akira not having a chess board, and Akira promised to buy one at Junes on the next day. 

“Is this the card you picked?” asked Akira, showing Goro a card with the joker drawn on it. 

“No, it was the ace of hearts,” smiled Goro. “I don’t think doing magic tricks is your vocation.”

“Don’t break my dreams like that,” Akira said, at the same time ten cards fell from his actual sleeve. “oops.”

Goro rolled his eyes and stretched his neck, which made a pretty awful sound. “I think it’s time to go to sleep. I’m starting to feel the consequences of the train ride.”

“Right,” agreed Akira. He stood up, put away the cards in their respective box, and opened his wardrobe to search for the other futon he knew that was there. 

Except it wasn’t. 

“Where is the futon?” he asked, twisting his mouth.

“How am I supposed to know.” replied Goro tiredly. He sat on the bed, checking his phone and not paying much attention to Akira, who went around the room opening and closing drawers, looking for the missing futon.

Once it was obvious that said futon wasn’t there, Akira told Goro that he would go ask his mom where it was. He was about to step outside of the room when Goro stopped him.

“Wait, what are you thinking?” he hissed. Akira stared at him with a confused look. Akechi closed his eyes and pinched his nose. “Think about it. What will your family think if you ask them for another futon?”

Akira was too tired to think, but he made the effort. “Shit.” he said, once realization hit. “They will know we don’t plan to share the bed.”

“Exactly.” nodded Goro. “We must find the futon by ourselves, without anyone seeing us.”

“That’s impossible. All my relatives are staying in every single room of the house where there could be a spare futon.”

Akechi crossed his arms, “then what do you suggest we do?”

Akira scratched his head, “I could sleep on the sofa in the living room… Oh, but my dad wakes up super early, if he found me there that would raise too many suspicions. I guess the only choice is that we share my bed?”

Akechi stared at him with a sour expression and narrowed eyes.

“What? I really didn’t expect this to happen!” justified Akira.

Akechi stared at him suspiciously until he sighed and nodded, defeated, “Alright, if there’s no other way. It’s just a bed, after all.” he said in a way that suggested that it wasn’t just a bed after all. 

“Are you sure?” Akira asked, concerned that he was making Goro cross too many bounds.

Akechi nodded, not really looking at him. “Of course, it would be childish to worry about something like that.”

Despite his words, Akira could tell that Akechi wasn’t being completely honest, so he wasn’t sure on what to do. Come to think of it, he had never spent a lot of time with Akechi, had he? The few times they hung out, they spent a maximum of two hours together at most. Today had been the first time where they really got to coexist and get to know each other.

Akira always regarded Akechi as someone private, prideful and independent. He was usually polite and pleasant, charming even, with a tendency to fall deep in thought and a relentless competitive streak. Right now, though, Akechi looked really out of his element. He was in Akira’s hometown, in his room, wearing overly formal pyjamas that crashed comically with the messy ponytail Akira had given him. Seated on Akira’s bed, he was playing mindlessly with his hands –probably missing his gloves– and he kept staring at the Christmas tree with a disapproving, confused look. 

Compared to his more confident and smug self, right now Goro looked pretty lost and tired.

“I will sleep on the sofa and put an alarm at 4am, this way I’m sure I can get away without anyone finding out.” Akira decided, putting his hands in his pockets.

Akechi stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes. “Why would you do that?”

“I put you into this mess, so I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” Akira admitted, with a small, sheepish smile. 

Akechi’s eyes widened even more if that was possible, and then he quickly looked away, frustrated. “...Stop feeling bad about having invited me over, it’s incredibly rude. And now come here to sleep, I’m tired!”

“Yessir,” Akira said, and he hurried over to the bed.

***

 **Akira:** Thank you for the hair tie.

 **Futaba:** So that’s where it was, you thief!!

 **Akira:** I will return it to you… for a price.

 **Futaba:** Not only a thief, but also a kidnapper.

 **Akira:** I just have a question.

 **Akira:** Can irl people be a tsundere or that just happens in anime?

 **Futaba:** Whut? is this about Akechi? Ann told me

 **Futaba:** Wait what did you use my hair tie for? 

**Futaba:** Akira?

 **Futaba:** Akira answer me you little shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm incredibly happy to say that someone made an amazing fanart of the first chapter! https://twitter.com/MilkTea543/status/1216002574718922752
> 
> If you have trouble remembering everyone's names, here's a list! (I hope that with so many new characters and names the chapter isn't confusing, I'm really worried about that actually, haha;;)
> 
> Mom: Hanabara  
> Dad: Tadano  
> Granny: -  
> Cousins: Ren and Yui  
> Auntie: Ume  
> Uncle: Nobu  
> Dog: Lupin
> 
> Even though Akira's cousin is called Ren, that doesn't mean the tag "Ren amamiya/Goro Akechi" is about Goro and Akira's cousin. I wanted to clear that out just in case, lol.
> 
> Finally, I've been working on my thesis these days and I'm super tired, but your comments and kudos made me so happy, and encouraged me to keep writing this, so thank you very much. I cherish them a lot! I hope you keep enjoying the story and let me know your thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> It all started when my last brain cell said "What if you made a fake dating fic shuake fic called Clean Laundry haha" fast-forward to now and... here we are :) I actually had a lot of fun writing this.
> 
> I want to thank my awesome, amazing, exceptional beta @s_c_writ for fixing all my mistakes, she is a blessing :') oh, and if you ever want to talk my twitter is @Shoujo_Shark
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please if you enjoyed the chapter let me know by leaving kudos and/or comment, It means more than you can imagine! I also hope you look forward to the Kurusu family..... Can you guess what kind of people will they be?


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